Sorting Out & Decluttering: Foundation Edition

After spending the last week or so & probably most of this week packing for moving house, I finally had to tackle to problem of where was I going to put my makeup? My beloved desk is being put into storage and I'll probably invest in something smaller like Muji, this being the case I thought it'd be best to sort out my 'stash' as such and I was more than surprised at the outcome, I own fourteen foundations, should I be ashamed? Probably! Am I? Not really but I did think it was way too many so I'm going to be making a real effort to use up two or three at least :) 

I thought it'd be nice to share my thoughts quite quickly on each of them (left to right), the first being the Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum, I'd bought the foundation version originally but it was a little too yellow toned upon application so I picked this one up instead, it has quite a fruity smell but a lovely finish! The next along is MUA's undress your skin foundation which I actually featured in my disappointing products post so that says it all, its just not my sort of foundation. The most recent addition to the collection being my L'oreal True Match, its a wonderful drugstore option which is basically a dupe for MAC studio fix, isn't too expensive and gives amazing coverage in a range which suits every skin tone.

The Rimmel Stay Matte is another than I'm not too keen on, no matter how I apply it it always looks cakey so I think I just left it here for good but I might just throw it out. The Collection lasting perfection foundation, I picked up a while back when buying my trusty collection concealer but I haven't got round to testing that out yet so when I do, I'll inform you all if it went down a treat or not! The next, the Maybelline Fit Me foundation is a lot darker than my skin tone and is what I'd call my 'foundation for those nights when I dare to tan myself' and it works perfectly for that. After that is the Rimmel Wake Me Up foundation & this is probably one of the best drugstore foundations, I love wearing it throughout the summer, until recently there wasn't a really really pale shade but the then lightest shade still working for me, since they've released a paler one but either are still good, definitely makes you look more awake in the mornings as the name suggests :)

Next is the No7 Beautifully Matte foundation, this was something I bought last year with a No7 money off coupon and if I'm being honest haven't used all that much, the matte claim really appeals to me though and it may come in handy through the summer so I'll be sure to use it up! The Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation is a little too yellow toned for my skin tone but paired with the Rimmel Match Perfection beside it, it balances it out! The Rimmel one is something I use when I need to lighten a foundation but would be a perfect base if you like a lighter coverage. Another favourite for summer and those 'I don't want to wear make up days' is the Maybelline BB cream - I actually picked up the one for oily skin as its lighter and less orange than the original. I then had to mention my holy grail, Estee Lauder Double Wear which is superb and of course the MAC studio fix, both of which I've wrote posts about and I can't really fault - definitely worth the money! :)

So that's all my foundations in a pretty lengthy post, if you have any other questions about them, leave them below and I'll be sure to answer! Also this post was meant to go up last week so I have indeed moved house!

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo
P.s whats your absolute favourite foundation of all time?

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A few new things

I usually enjoy posting my favourites at the end of the month or posting the odd haul or two in between but this time I thought I'd do a mid through the month thing to show all the things I've been loving as of late. I also thought there would be far too many if I left it that long so these are a few of my favourite new things. 

The first thing I did was have a little Paperchase snoop with the intention of picking up a mid year diary/planner as my current one runs out in July and I couldn't cope with the lack of organisation. I was lucky enough to find this aztec printed diary with a week to a page, which is beautiful and has plenty of space & stickers to keep me on track. Since I couldn't just walk out with one thing, its a problem I know this little list book caught my eye, I featured it in my exam post earlier this week and I love it to pieces. The colours are so fresh and spring-like plus the elastic keeps everything from falling out and lets face it, who doesn't want a specific list book to write in? 

I'd also seen a few tweets about the new Topshop beauty range with rose gold packaging so on the day of its release I coincidentally was shopping with my friend and wandered into Topshop, as you do and there were plenty on a cute little display at the front. I'll hold my hands up, anything rose gold and I'm an absolute goner so I resisted slightly although the packing is stunning and only picked up one thing, this gorgeous pastel blue/green colour in the shade 'Boy next door' and its already been on my nails for the past four days without chipping! I also received this gorgeous Iconemesis phone case* in the cat sims feather case design and I adore it, it arrived at a time when my phone case was on its last legs so this is perfect and I've been ever so happy having such a fresh, glossy & high standard case - definitely recommend having a look at their other cases (link). 

Lastly I took a trip to Boots and picked up two of the Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet lipsticks in the shades So Hap'pink, a lovely pink-y shade (top) & Nude-ist (pictured bottom), a natural yet still pink-toned nude. The lasting power is seriously good and gives a lovely finish to the lips even after eating and drinking which I was pleasantly surprised by so I can't wait to wear these more through the spring/summer as there shades that'll carry me through to Autumn again and thats a long way off yet!
So that's everything I've been loving through May so far, let me know if you've tried any of these or what else you've been picking up this month too :)    

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo 

P.s what topshop makeup or bourjois makeup pieces are a must have?

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Weekly Ramble #10

It's hard to believe that we're well into May now, where has the first four months of the year gone? Its that time of year when the suns trying to break out, emphasis on the trying and there's a fair few dull days in between but hopefully this summer we might see some sun, fingers crossed! 

As soon as it hits May its the countdown for my birthday with just over a month to go and my mark for halfway through the year and this year just happens to be the big 2 1 & so I'm even more excited than usual! This weeks been a bit of a mix up, although being off Monday for the bank holiday it's felt like the longest week at work yet, I've tried to be a busy bee this week and have somewhat of a social life whilst I can but let me tell you balancing two jobs and a social life is now a good combination.... I did try however! 

At the start of the week I published my room tour post finally, this I wasn't sure whether to post or not but it seems to have gone down a treat so I'm glad it worked out for the better, you can have a nosy here (link). I did manage to sneak in a Starbucks & of course that and a gossip/catch up session with the best friend comes hand in hand and yes, I did have hot chocolate in May because it was so dull and miserable. The good thing about this time of year of course is the flowers in full bloom and this blossom tree shows that, a dull picture but a nice view walking home. I spend all my time at the train platform and this is my view, surprisingly it was sunny on the day I had time to kill and decided to take photos. 

When I woke up this morning I'd a lovely notification from Bloglovin' informing me I'd reached 800 followers which is a crazy amount of people that I've ever so grateful for so thank you! (a longer appreciation post will probably be coming soon). I also posted a spring clothing haul here (link) and my Accessorize bag arrived in the post - its so beaut and I can't wait to start using it! Lastly I managed to sneak in a pizza hut lunch buffet for a catch up with another one of my good friends and it was scrumptious, salad, pizza and pasta all on one plate with unlimited coke, I was more than content! So that's been my week, a sort of busy one, sort of not, all of my photos were taken on my iphone thats why they've gone a little funny when editing but still you get the jist, hopefully next week will be even more fun filled. Let me know how your weeks been or if you enjoyed this :)  

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo 

P.s I also bought batteries for my camera so back to regular posting and clear photos I come! Has anyone been up to anything exciting lately?

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Spring Haul 2015

The best thing about a change in season without a doubt is the new wardrobe that comes along with it, saying that I also needed a few bits and pieces to wear to work so shopping on payday seemed like a wonderful idea. I'll hold my hands up now and say a lot of the clothes are from Primark with a few other shops here and there but then again who doesn't love a Primark haul. I'm a summer baby so any excuse to wear summery clothes is a massive plus, I just wish we had the constantly warm weather that should be associated with summer.... if we do get it however, I'll be prepared.

Now these purchases have all stemmed from maybe two or three months occasional shopping trips, I think my bank balance would cry if I just went out in one shop and bought it all, in fact I think I would cry too! The first thing I picked up was a jumper from h&m in the sale for £7 (how summery of me) which is really lightweight and a speckled black & white colour, perfect for those nights when the suns gone down. Secondly I picked up a shirt from Primark which is a grey-mauve-y colour, it changes depending on the light but you can never have enough shirts and I think it was around the £6 mark. Then I managed to find this cute little top with elephant prints on it, although it's a crop top it's not that short which I love and it'll go well with jeans, leggings, anything really so in the basket it went too!

The next two shirt / tops I picked up from Primark are identical in style, just different in pattern, I thought it would be a nice change to have an open neck and rolled up sleeves when it's getting warmer but still remain smart enough for work. I couldn't decide between the two and I'm really trying to steer away from my 90% black wardrobe so I picked up the red option as well. 

This is probably my favourite thing in the entire haul or close to second (and second most expensive, around £22 but with student discount a little less and it's so worth it), I inserted a second picture just because the full length one doesn't do the playsuit any justice. It's a paisley print and the colours are gorgeous, maybe not your average summer colours but oh so pretty. This was from he New Look petite range, something I wasn't even aware of and it fits me perfectly which is always a struggle for us small gals and similarly to the shirts it has roll up sleeves. I can see this being a winner both for casual through the day wear or dressing up for going out at night with a pair of heels. I just love it! 

Whilst I was in New Look, to find the petite range I had to walk through the children's section and this kimono just sort of stood out to me - now I know it's children but honestly my mum tried it on and it fits her perfectly, it's not just me so there sizing must be massive, I think this is a 15 years but it's so pretty, did I mention being small has the ocassimal perks? I think it was £10 too so not breaking the bank either and it'll be a perfect cover up in the summer. After New Look I waltzed into Topshop & that never ends well so I tried to restrain myself as best as I could and only walked out with one thing, yes one, I'm extremely proud and it was this stunning playsuit from the petite range again which hugs the top half of me beautifully and has lace around both the arms and shorts - I'm dying for an excuse to go out just so I can wear it, is that bad? 

This pictures a little bit all over the place but I couldn't figure out how to display everything, in the end a floor shot worked. I can't get enough of these running/pyjama shorts from Primark (I always wear them lounging round the house) which are only £4, especially the floral & lace ones, they're so cute and I find myself looking for more every time I'm shopping. I also picked up a bandeau just for comfort, new bras from h&m, a camel & navy striped top from New Look which I can't stop wearing and my first pair of sandals of the year from Primark which were really inexpensive and look so nice. I find myself always reaching for tan rather than black shoes in the summer so I can see I'll get my wear out of them.

Lastly I picked up a few pairs of socks, you know the boring essentials & then this adorable pack of midi rings which I'm sure will keep me going for a while. The jewellery section was far too busy to have a good look but next time I'll be sure to have a peak. So that's everything that I've bought over the past wee while, hope you enjoyed it - I'm just really excited for spring/summer to properly arrive and it to be sunny a lot, wishful thinking I know... And if you've made it to the end I'm sorry but congrats on making it to the end of one of my lengthiest posts! 

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo 

P.s what nice things have you bought lately? Or if you've any links to hauls leave them below, I love reading them

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Revisited; L'oreal Loves

If you're an avid reader of my blog you'll know I've a bad habit of mentioning a product and not getting back to review it until months down the line which is sort of a blessing if you think about it as I'm able to trial & test the product to see whether I really love it or not but lately I'm determined to try and speed up the process a little so alas here's my review of my new favourite drugstore bits and bobs....

The first and probably favourite of mine in regards to the bits I picked up is the L'oreal True Match Foundation - now I know what you're thinking not another review, please no? but I thought it was about time I tried it out for myself after the hype had died down and boy am I glad I did. Although on the pricier end of the drugstore scale around £9/10 (its still not breaking the bank) its by far the best coverage foundation I've found in all my years of scouring Boots' makeup aisles - its a close second to my MAC studio fix and covers all blemishes and spots on the first application!

There's a superb shade range in the collection and you'll be damned if you don't find a close to perfect skin match - I ended up with N1 'Ivory' and it suits my oh so pale skin perfectly. The longevity of this is actually what surprised me the most, it lasted all day on my skin with the occasional once over with a powder brush & without melting off my face, definitely one to reach for on a day you'll be out of the house a lot! I'm also a big fan of the bottle itself, its adorable & it has SPF 17 for those sunnier days that we're experiencing in amongst all the rain.... can you tell I've found my new favourite foundation of the moment?

As for mascara I'm usually loyal & very rarely branch out and try others that aren't L'oreal Miss Manga or Maybelline The Falsies but this time I decided to try out another L'oreal mascara that I'd heard plenty of positive things about, their False Lash Telescopic Mascara in 'magnetic black'. I always think L'oreal packaging looks sleek & classy and this is no different to that, the only downside I'd say is the bristles which don't move all too much and takes a little longer to apply at first but after a few applications its just the same as any other.

It stays on my eyes all day even on the wetter days without making me look like a panda escaping from the zoo and is a breeze to take off at the end of the day, no rubbing for hours here so I'd say its an all round success and I might just have to repurchase it again (and thats saying something because I'm bloody fussy with mascaras)! So thats what I've been loving recently, trialed and tested, hope you enjoyed and if you have any mascara suggestions, please leave them down below:)

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo
P.s what things do you absolutely love from L'oreal?

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Lip Balm Loving: Nuxe

Something I've always been lacking in life is an utterly amazing lip balm that just blows all the rest out of the water, babylips tried and tested, other chapsticks tried, even the trusted vaseline (which has about twenty different uses) and none of them seem to do the trick: so when I heard about the Nuxe Reve de Miel lip balm I was a little sceptical. A month or two ago they launched their 20th Anniversary packaging and I decided to pick one up & give it a go since the packaging was even cuter than normal and my lips needed some tlc! (tmi, nearly)  

At first I thought the tub, although adorable was a little small for the price tag but as I've come to learn its not at all, I've been using it daily for a month and there isn't even a substantial dent in it, a little really does magically go a long way which I couldn't be more chuffed about! The red anniversary edition that I picked up smells distinctly of grapefruit which is very spring/summer orientated and I can't stop sniffing it - I'm not sure what the original smells like but I can imagine its just as nice.

The lip balm is primarily aimed at people with dry or damaged lips and it'll probably be a godsend in the A/W months (but thats a long time off yet) but even now applying some before bed gives my lips plenty of moisture and they feel more refreshed and healthy than they have done in ages, whenever I wake in the morning my lips are super soft and stay like that all day. I'm hoping that if I continue to use it, it will repair my lips completely and keep them nourished throughout the summer months.

The ingredients include honey, sunflower and shea butter & honestly they're the perfect combination because I probably couldn't live without this lip balm and thats saying a lot because I usually skipped the whole lip balm phase when applying makeup and just skipped to the lipstick/gloss/liner except for those matte days when you need a little something extra. As I mentioned its slightly pricier than other lip balms but its definitely worth it and I'm now converted, I'll definitely end up repurchasing, I just hope the Anniversay packaging stays around for a while!

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo
P.s have you used any good lip balms lately or any that you absolutely swear by?

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Concealer-aholic?

I'm one of those people that likes to cover all those pesky spots and blemishes over a bold lip and busy eye makeup anyday. I feel like if you don't have a good concealer, well its just not the same, at least I tell myself that to justify spending yet more money on base makeup, more importantly concealers! I know everyone swears by the Collection concealer and to some extent I do too but I wanted to branch out a little incase I'm missing out on something wonderful AND I hadn't owned a high end concealer so I thought I'd go all out and buy two at the one time....  

The two I decided on are actually quite similar as there both creamy and without a wand, the first was the MAC Studio Fix Concealer in NC15 and the second was Benefit's Boi-ing Concealer in 'Light'. Now I'm usually not an NC at all in MAC, I'm a NW but this actually works on my skin, having pinky undertone foundation and concealer would probably be a bit too pink, so this balances everything out nicely. The Benefit one doesn't go by undertones, instead it just uses the usual light, medium, dark and of course I'm light, if there was an extra light I would probably be that.  

At first I wasn't sold on the potted concealer as such, opting for a wand everytime just for handiness but after loving my 17 phwoarrr paint I realised they aren't actually too bad, in fact they were easier and I found myself reaching for that more often than my ordinary wand concealers as the coverage was just as good, if not better and it included a little mirror so I'm hoping I'll adore these two just as much, I don't fancy using my fingers, especially as the warmer weathers approaching, they'll probably melt slightly but by using a smaller brush I'm hoping they'll blend like a dream and give me the coverage that I really need, I'm sure I'll share my feelings on them at some point, I always do :)

The only major thing I noticed about these two is that the Mac concealer has a lot more product (7g) compared to the Benefit concealer which has (3g), now for the record Benefit's is slightly more expensive around the £17/18 mark whereas MAC ranges around £15/16 so its a lot less for your moneys worth and I actually prefer the lid on the MAC concealer as theres no chance of it falling off, hopefully it won't make a difference to the product inside and I can't wait to get using them both. (It's almost as if I'm asking for bad skin to test them out, I promise I'm not)  

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo 

P.s has anyone tried these two? or any other high end concealers that they love? 

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March Beauty Favourites

Somehow I've only gotten round to doing my first favourite post of the year, and we're three, well four months in... what can I say this year has started off crazy and hasn't slowed down since, its been all systems go and sadly blogging has fallen by the wayside as a result. This month however thats going to change, no it needs to, I miss blogging. I'm inspired and can't wait to write some new posts  & you bet as soon as I get some proper lighting I'll be getting my routine back up and running, so as a sort of apology, here's my March beauty favourites.....      

As its coming into Spring (well meant to be, we'll ignore the thunder storms outside for the sake of this post) I like to switch things about and although I'm usually a full coverage, matte kind of gal I like to wear as light a base as possible when the suns out, praying my skin isn't acting up and making me self conscious (big tip: drink as much water as you can, clears your skin up in no time), last summer BB cream was my best friend. 

I'm sort of in the middle of mixing up my foundation routine and also just wearing concealer a lot of the time so thats why I haven't featured any this month but primers a different story. I've been switching between two primers as of late, to combat the shine, the well loved Benefit Porefessional which just so happens to keep my skin looking fresh all day and the second being the 17 wow three way highlight which I didn't think would be my cup of tea at all. I simply mix a little in with my foundation and it creates the perfect healthy glow. 

Lips and blush are the main switch in the spring/summer seasons, they're a must. Is it just me or do baby pinks just scream spring? The two lip favourites I've been loving is an Urban Decay revoloution lipstick in Streak which I bought late last year in the summer but never really got the benefit from because in no time it was time for the Autumn shades. It's a brighter pink than I'm used to but it's not too Barbie-esque either so I'm hoping I get my my use out of it this year, the formulas really creamy and it actually lasts quite a while. I've also featured one of my favourite MAC lipsticks, please me, it's matte (I couldn't stray from the matte too much) and is the most gorgeous everyday baby pink. 

Lastly I've been loving my Illamasqua powder blush in 'Hussy' which I always manage to forget about, its a really lovely colour and honestly I should probably put it on my dresser to make a conscious effort to use it! So that's it for March, I know I usually do two favourites post, beauty and non beauty but I haven't loved anything overly non beauty so I'll make up for it in Aprils posts. 

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo 

P.s what have you been loving through March, beauty or non beauty? 

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1989

I don't think I've quite conquered an album post just yet, a playlist yes, review no so I thought what would be more fitting than one of my top three albums of all time & thats a big statement, I don't think anything will ever beat Ed Sheeran's + album, even the old Steps/S Club CD's don't come close and they were definitely well loved back in the day! 1989 was released around October time last year and yes I counted it down, I was excited and for good reason, the albums blooming brilliant!

Apart from pointing out the obvious that Taylor Swift's an absolute babe, I don't think I could say girl crush fast enough, she's an incredibly talented singer, songwriter and all round person & I think I can count the amount of songs of hers I'm not too fond of (on all of her albums) on one hand. This albums no different, in fact its probably one of my favourites and I love every song on the album, Style was the first that really grew on me though!

Taylor's definitely turned to the pop side with this album with no traces of country to be heard (something which I'm a little sad about) but she does suit the pop genre just as well, so its a tough one. I know the pop will most likely appeal to a much larger audience, as if there's anyone that hasn't been converted to a T-Swift fan at this point....lets face it. I've so many favourites but if I had to narrow them down I'd have to pick Clean, Wonderland, New Romantics, Blank Space and This Love, basically all of the deluxe bonus songs, they're all perfect and the lyrics are amazing.

I also wanted to show the attention to detail with this album, just look at the c.d itself, I also love the simplicity of the album's name and cover, simple yet effective! The deluxe version which I managed to get has all these exclusive Polaroids photographs inside as well which I love and the lyrics from the album are written underneath, such a nice finishing touch. The necklace my friend actually bought me about four years ago and I've worn it off and on as you do but I realised just how similar it is to the one used in the style video aka a harry reference so I had to add it in too. 

Overall, it's an amazing album and I'd definitely recommend giving it a listen if you haven't already (I know some people just listen to the singles and not the entire things but the deluxe songs are definitely great! Let me know what you think of this kind of post too 

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo 

P.s are you a Tay Swift fan, or listened to 1989? What do you think? 

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Rimmel - Lets Get Nude

I'm always partial to the odd #notd post, if you're anything like me I'm always painting and re-painting my nails, in fact there's never really a time that I have nothing on, even if it's a nude so I thought I'd share a new discovery of mine. I hold my hands up - I've never owned a higher end nail polish and have no real intention to either, the drugstore options are more than enough to keep me going, plus they're so affordable!

If you'd asked me a year or two about nude nail polish, my opinion was if you can't tell you're wearing it there's no point to putting it on, that opinions changed safe to say. This particular nail polish 'Lets get Nude' is one of Rimmels 60 seconds formula from the Rita Ora range and is super cheap around the £3 mark. All of the shades in the range have quirky names which I really like, a fairly good sized bottle and a nice applicator brush which is always a bonus. 

The nail polish once applied is exactly what it says on the tin, I'm pale and it was a shade darker than my skin colour so the perfect match. It made my nails look lovely and glossy, now I didn't manage to get a really good picture when they were freshly painted but I am wearing it in the above photo and it shows how nice a colour it really is. This is the first nude colour that I've really loved on my nails and with the whole nude lip thang going on because of Kylie Jenner I can see me rocking the nude nail look instead.

 It's just made me want to expand my nude collection more than anything.... and it'll be perfect for work and summer, rocking a black nail or bright yellow although pretty don't exactly scream professional and my nails can still be protected somewhat. The lasting power is also quite impressive as I'd been wearing it around 4-5 days before chipping and that includes working (aka destroying my nails) so I'm quite pleased with this one and can't wait to collect a few more! 

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo 

P.s what are your thoughts on nude nail varnish? Or do you have any faves I should try?

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Springs Arrived

I think its safe to say, Spring has sprung & I couldn't be happier! This was a bit of a spontaneous post this morning on the train and luckily enough I had the photographs to go alongside it in a draft, points for organisations please! This is a shorter post of mine just to welcome in the new season - the first few days of the month have been a bit dubious and just yesterday it was bloody freezing, wet, miserable and gale force winds yet this morning it's as if none of that even happened. 

Luckily enough from our kitchen window we've a view of over the city and it just so happened that whilst I was eating breakfast today the sun was rising so of course I snapped a picture and put in on Instagram (links on the side) if you want to have a nosey - definitely a nice start to the morning. What is it with the sun and lifting everyone's spirits? Usually the dreary train commuters in the morning are just that, dreary and today they were all positively beaming as if it was the height of summer. 

I decided to embrace the weather and ditch the boots & socks I've been wearing solidly since the end of Autumn to my new shoes which show ankle and have cut outs - how daring right? I then decided to put my most spring appropriate lipstick on, my prized YSL lipstick which is pictured above and although I'm not the biggest fan of shimmer, this isn't sticky or overdone, it's perfect! Sadly I left the sunglasses at home, which I'm sort of regretting now as I'm making that really unattractive squinty face when the suns in your eyes out of the train window  - luckily no one can see in! 

As soon as the sun arrives everyone embraces the colour and brights in their wardrobes (or pastels) and it's such a nice change, since my wardrobe is 95% monochrome, I just add a coloured cardigan or the like but still I try. I don't think it's warm enough for crop tops and short just yet but I like that we're on the way - sometimes it's nice to leave the coat at home! And also Easters right around the corner, that's definitely sneaked up on me, 2015s whizzing by and with working all summer I'll definitely be making the most of the sun we do have when I can it the weather has cheered me right up.

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo
P.s what's your favourite thing about Spring time?  

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Boots Haul ft L'oreal & Collection

I'm With working a lot  lately, I've not been able to take my time and enjoy perusing the aisles of Boots and Superdrug as much as I'd like, in fact I've built up quite an extensive wishlist so goodness help me and my bank balance when I finally do have the time. I did manage to sneak in one evening this week for like 10 minutes whilst waiting for my bus and when I say 10 minutes, it really was just that so I managed to quickly pick up a few things just.  

The first thing I was dying to pick up and have wanted for ages is the L'oreal True Match foundation, I was always a bit wary whether to order it online because of the undertones but whenever I saw the paler shades in store, I got swatching and found the 'perfect match'for my skin in N1. At the time Boots was having a bit of an offer spree and the one that naturally caught my eye was the 2 for £14 one on L'oreal makeup products, now the foundation usually retails around £9.99 so for £4 more I saw no harm in picking up an additional thing. 

After being torn between so many beaut products, I opted for the L'oreal False Lash Telescopic Mascara, I'd recently ran out of mascara and I remember hearing lots of good things about this one so killing two birds with one stone for £4 seemed worth it. After that I stopped by the Collection stand and picked up another lasting perfection concealer, you can never have too many sitting about and realised that there was a foundation alongside it. Now I've heard plenty about the concealer, the foundation not so much and as it was reduced I thought I'd give it a whirl and see if the foundation is just as magical as the concealer so be sure to keep an eye out for that post. 

As I said I managed to pick up these four in the space of ten minutes and althought it's not a massive haul it's big enough for a ten minute stop off and surprisingly, or not so surprisingly I've bought a few more things since writing this post but I might just save that for an extra long haul post at some point. I'm just eager to start using them all :) 

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo

P.s what drugstore items have you been loving/buying lately? & what else from L'oreal is a must have for the makeup bag? I need to branch out more 

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Disappointing Products #1

Products that are not my cup of tea or in a sense, disappointing never really make it on to the blog as much as they should. I feel like most bbloggers, not just myself rave about the beauty gems they find and the rest are just forgotten about, for that reason I've decided that every so often I'll write a disappointing or not worth the hype post to remind everyone, that everyones skin works differently and different products work better for some, worse for others - oh and not everything you ever buy will you fall in love with, how pessimistic of me.

Foundations. I didn't realise how many I had included until it came to editing time. As I loved the Rimmel Stay Matte powder and a matte base at the time of purchasing, I thought it would be a winnner but oh was I wrong, no matter how many times I try to apply this differently it still looks awfully cakey on me, circa secondary school when no one knew how to blend makeup and had three layers of orange foundation. The Rimmel Stay Matte is also the lightest in the shade range but its still far too dark for me so sadly its barely been used.

The second foundation, the Maybelline Fit Me - a bit controversial, I know lots of people that love this foundation, me not so much. It just doesn't work on my skin at all, this isn't my shade either, I accidentally picked up the 130 shade for when I'm wearing tan (a rare old thing) and although I'm not fond of wearing it, I do whenever I'm going out as no one can really tell. The last foundation is the MUA, a lot of their stuff can be really good or not so, this foundation the latter, again its the lightest shade and although it actually suits my skin tone, the coverage is barely there - it doesn't cover anything and for someone who likes a bit more of a coverage its not the same. I might try and use it up in the summer though as a really light base.

Mascaras. Another thing that can totally work for one person and not for the next - it all depends on what you want. I usually like length and some volume but nothing too spidery - something thats very hard to find. The Benefit one is a big no go, apart from changing the colour of my eyelashes to black it didn't give any length or volume and out of the lot, this was probably the most disappointing. I was sort of put of for a while but after trying the They're Real, I can safely say just save yourself the time & money and buy that instead.

Also the Rimmel mascara, they always chuck them in if you spend over a £10 or something and sometimes they're good but this one just irritated my eyes and I don't even have sensitive eyes, the only good thing is I didn't actually buy this so it doesn't feel like money wasted. Lastly the accessorzie lipstick, I think I bought this solely for the packaging, look how cute it is? The lipstick however is way too creamy and slips & slides everywhere, unless I can find a really good lipliner and possibly not eat whilst wearing it I can't see it getting much use - its a shame because its the perfect brown. So you can see that's quite a few products to avoid, let me know if you like this kind of post?

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo
P.s what disappointing products have you tried lately?

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2015 Essentials Wishlist

It feels like its been a while since I've sat and made a new post, what can I say this past week has been an absolute whirlwind and I haven't had any time to sleep let alone blog but I've given myself a good old slap on the wrist and I'm positive that it won't happen again - at least two times a week is the aim for now. I'm actually writing this via free train wifi on the way to Uni, it's usually unreliable but for now its holding up so hope you enjoy this little wishlist of mine :)

As of Monday this week I'm back to commuting daily meaning long train journeys and very early mornings, sounds great right? I commuted to uni in first year which is roughly the same journey but I wasn't prepared at all so now I'm determined to be.

 An essential for any early start is a good concealer and lately all of my own aren't cutting it, now I rarely get the odd bag under my eyes and then I'd have a long rest and it'f gone so since I've been waking up early (5am for five days straight) I can really notice the prominent dark circles and I'm not liking it at all. I really need a good heavy duty concealer and I've been eyeing up the nars creamy concealer for a while so when I asked on Twitter for a few recommendations I ended up with a bunch including benefit and Estée Lauder. 

I definitely have a neutral theme going on at the minute, nude lips & blushes and I'm embracing it. I convinced myself I needed new lipsticks for work and we all know Mac is the place to go for colour range so I might treat myself to a nude lipstick (oh and one of their lip liners). Nars also do some amazing products but sadly I've never tried any of them so that's going to change in 2015, I really want to try one of their lip pencils and of course the infamous blushes are high up on the wishlist. Stila also has a few lovely shades in their colour convertible range and this shade I've just fallen for - it's a bit of an unusual one for me but still stunning. 

The following may be a little boring but these are the travel essentials, headphones because no journey is complete without an iPod, sadly mine have given up in one of the ears so I'll have to pick up another pair as soon as. Also I've a lot more to travel with and charge so a portable charger seems blooming ideal for my iPod, iPad, iphone, you name it so it seems pretty important and I'm surprised I don't own one of these already. Next I really want to update my iPad cover and iPhone case, every few months you just need a little switch up so I'm on the look out for a few so if anyone can recommend any pretty ones, please send links my way. Lastly an umbrella is a must, if you know northern irish weather it's bloody unpredictable and 95% of the time it rains - I've lost count of how many umbrellas I've actually gone through, I've such bad luck with them! 

As for fashion bits and bobs scarves are my best friend at this time of year and luckily I've built up quite a collection of scarves and cuddly jumpers (usually baggy) but hats not so much. A bobble hat on a bad hair day or even just a cold day is a life saver and I've got so much use out of mine lately but I've only one colour so I really want to pick a few up before they're gone for another year. Lastly solid boots are a must, I don't want wet socks from walking through too many puddles, ew. All of these are pretty sensible choices for me and would you look at that only half of the things mentioned are beauty related, I'm learning! Hope you enjoyed reading this one and I promise I won't leave it weeks before posting again :)

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo 

P.s what travel essentials are a must for you? Also if you do have any concealer or phone/iPad case recommendations please leave them in the comments or tweet me, I'm at @JennysEveryday_

Weekly Ramble #7

A weekly ramble post wasn't something I was planning to do, funnily enough weekly, but for the month of December I want to be able to look back & see what I've been up to. This week was very same-y to last in that I consumed far too much food, its the season for food and all that and I spent most of my time humming along to overplayed Christmas songs (and not the good ones) on a loop in work, two more weeks & I'll be climbing the walls. 

After seeing the trailer for Interstellar and never having the time to go and see it I decided that this week it was now or never and I was not disappointed - it was definitely long, maybe a bit too long (the phrase numb bum applies) but it was sooo good! I'm actually all for movies about the world ending, how cheerful! I made the most of a Group On offer of my mums and made a large-ish order of photos to be developed for my photo albums and they all arrived this week, granted I need more albums now but the savings were amazing, I think it cost for 400 odd like £6/7 with postage and packaging instead of more like £20 odd, they're all superb quality too!

I finally carried out the tedious task of cleaning all of my makeup brushes, I say finally when its probably been a week but its just so boring. I have made an order for new makeup brushes from ebay though so I'm hoping they arrive soon.

I've also been told the amazing news that my placement is all sorted and I'm starting in the new year AND I'm being offered a permanent part time job, somehow I think 2015 might be a good one? :) Oh and all of my christmas cards / letters have been sent bar a few, included with a long and rambly message inside, who doesn't love that. Anyways this week has flew in and I can't believe its only ten days to Christmas Eve and eleven to Christmas! 

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo 

P.s what have you been up to this week? 

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Blogmas Day 2: Something a little different

After leaving a sneaky clue at the end of yesterdays post, I'm extremely excited to post today, in fact its probably one of my favourite December's posts to come and its only day two! At this time of year I love giving (and recieving if I'm lucky) Christmas cards and seeing all the different & utterly cute designs on them all. I also love adding my own messages to the card which are usually long but I think it just makes it all the more personal than a 'Mere Merry Christmas' although that's always nice too!

This year I was buying a card for my friend in Hong Kong, sending my first international Christmas card as you will and realised how fun it actually is receiving letters or cards - an art thats forgotten for the use of social media and the internet, sometimes old fashioned is better in this case! As an after thought I did think about blogging and how the community is so friendly over twitter but with all the different timezones its hard to chat to everyone so I thought it would be a nice idea to send Christmas cards to some of my readers (only if they want me to of course, I'm not an oddball). I've seen a few others do this kind of thing and thought it was a wonderful idea.

I'm all for writing letters and learning things about other people and where they live, a real eye opener and all that, in fact I remember having a penpal in primary school or else it was first year of secondary school, from France and it was so interesting but alas it was only for a short period of time, fun as it was. Therefore in the next few days I'm going to write my Christmas cards and cute, probably far too long and waffly messages inside and sending them on the weekend (fingers crossed), just so they arrive in time for the big day - nothing worse than late cards, well except for late birthday cards. So if you fancy recieving or sending Christmas cards you can either leave me a comment letting me know what you think, email me at jennyseverydaylife@hotmail.com or tweet me @JennysEveryday_ :) Hope you liked this post, it was a bit different for me as well!

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo
P.s what do you think about sending things by post instead of social media? Let me know if I'm the only one who prefers harassing the postman for delivered letters

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No7 Skincare

As you may have guessed from my recent posts (I say recent, it was probably a week ago), I'm on a reviewing craze at the minute, I like to mix up my posts normally so they aren't too boring or same-y .... thats definitely not a word but recently I've found a lot of products that I've loved and wanted to share with you all - the phase will probably stop, soon but in the meantime enjoy!   

I also mentioned that skincare posts are going to frequent more on my blog and so this skincare product and review duo are perfect. I've always wanted to try the Liz Earle Hot Cloth Cleanse & Polish but I could never get my hands on it, luckily my local Boots now has a stand (thank goodness) so with a No7 voucher in hand I opted for the next best thing. I decided to buy No7's hot cloth cleanser in the travelling size just to see if I liked it and it worked, plus I can't get over how cute it looks.

This cleanser comes in really handy when I'm feeling lazy or my skin needs revitalizing, I simply apply the cleanser in circular motions with my fingers, then use the provided muslin cloth over my face to open my pores and then simply wash off (or polish it off) with the same cloth. It sounds like a lot but honestly it takes two seconds and it leaves your skin feeling fresh and lovely. This is definitely one of my shorter reviews but honestly I can't rave about it enough, its a great skincare product - not one that I would use daily because that would be a waste but every so often I'll just pop it on.

Another great thing about this is that its suitable for all skin types, No7 usually have ranges within their skincare products aimed at specific skin types but that isn't the case with this so practically anyone can use it. Its a great size for taking on the go as well and I can't wait to repurchase this when its finished, I might find it in some of the No7 Christmas sets too, I'll have to keep an eye out. Hope that helped a little, I'm still a proper skincare routine newbie but I'm getting there!

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo
P.s have you tried any other hot cloth cleansers? I'm dying to try Liz Earle

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MAC Mineralize Eyeshadows

With Christmas being everywhere and the Halloween holidays this week (heck the clocks have even went back) I thought it was time for me to start thinking (not buying, thinking) about what I should buy my friends and family as presents. There's always so much choice and its hard to pick out what they would absolutely love, I've even taken to Polyvore to create ideas - something I still haven't got to grips with yet! One of my friends is MAC obsessed (though who isn't?) and I thought this eyeshadow was a cute little something something for a stocking filler. 

This is the MAC Mineralize Eyeshadow Quad in Golden Hours and as soon as I saw it I knew my friend would love it, any makeup that's neutral and perfect for daily use is just her cup of tea - so you can see why four nude eyeshadows and MAC ones at that seemed ideal as a pressie. Now I did buy this online so I expected it to be slightly larger than what it is but nevertheless its still a lovely product!

As I said theres 4 nude shades, one cream, one orange-y toned, a lighter brown and a darker brown eyeshadow and depending on how you feel you can have a simple wash of colour throughout the day and a darker brown smokey eye at night - all without having to bring half of your makeup collection (maybe thats just me) and its ever so handy to pop in the makeup bag. Upon first swatch these eyeshadows are super pigmented with a slight shimmer and although I'm not the biggest shimmer fan they're gorgeous! I'm even tempted to buy myself one....

These mineralize eyeshadow quads were originally a part of the Fantasy of Flowers Collection released earlier this year but when the collection was released I didn't pay any attention to the eyeshadows and they received barely any hype when they deserve it. I always find in MAC collections the lipsticks and blushes get all the loving (and I'm guilty of it too). This quad in the newer MAC packaging and I'm not sure whether I love it or miss the older version, I know a lot of bloggers prefer the newer version as you can see the product that you're reaching for - who knows maybe it'll grow on me. All in all, its a lovely product and I can't wait to see my friends reaction when she unwraps it :) I always want to apologize (as a side note) for my blogging being a bit awol this month but Novembers going to be much better, promise!

  Thanks for reading, Jenny xo
P.S Have you given any thought towards Christmas presents yet? Or let me know what MAC eyeshadows you can't live without?

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A/W Essentials: Lip Care

With the change in the weather: Autumns finally here! Ankle boots, ten layers of clothing, hot chocolates and berry lips here we come! Can you tell I'm excited? One of the best things about Autumn though is that no one can judge if you have a massive collection small handful of lip balms and butters at the bottom of your handbag - they're an A/W essential. This post was sort of inspired by Sundays #bbloggers chat, you'll know what I mean if you got involved and the theme was 'A/W essentials' and lip care is definitely up there with a good moisturiser so I thought I'd share a few of my favourites!

You may notice a bit of a theme throughout this post, except for one lip balm maybe two they're all scented... I think it makes all the difference having something smell good on your lips as well as keeping them soft and moisturized. My most used is probably Babylips in 'Cherry Me' which I just swipe on whilst doing my makeup and for top ups throughout the day - it smells incredible and leaves my lips feeling great.

My second most used Babylips is 'Hydrate Me' which works just as well but doesn't have a scent... the only thing about these two is the packaging. Its good and bad. Apart from the distinctly coloured tubes once you take the lid off to apply they look very plain, not the nicest. My friend actually bought me the third pink Babylips from America and I much prefer the packaging because the words are actually on the bullet and you just remove the lid each time which is a lot easier. The fourth offering I use is just a simple 'little blue tin balm' from Superdrug which I bought when I couldn't find the similar Vaseline tin (thats the absolute best I've found for my lips) and it works ok I guess, not the best but it still protects them a little from the cold winter weather and it wasn't too expensive so I'll let it slide.

The fifth and sixth lip balms/butters I want to mention are from The Body Shop (which I love). One is the Born Lippy Balm in Strawberry and I must confess I bought this for the sole reason that it smelt like Rowntree's Strawberry jelly, unfortunately it doesn't taste like it which is a bit of a let down but its still good to smell every once in a while and it keeps my lips in tip top condition. The last is the only lip butter I've mentioned - the Body Shop butter in Coconut and this was something free I put in my basket through the summer for the sole purpose of it smelt more summery than my usual lip balms and I'd heard good things about The Body Shop's lip balms/butters and well, I haven't been dissappointed - they're amazing! All of these balms mentioned are no more than £3 and for such an inexpensive cost I can justify a handful at the bottom of my bag - definitely worth picking up a few for A/W!

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo
P.s what lip balms/butters are your must haves for Autumn and Winter?

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